Nehal makes it to IPL, 3rd player from district

Anil Datt

Ludhiana, December 24

Nehal Wadhera, a 22-year-old cricketer from the city, has been picked up as an all-rounder by Mumbai Indians for the Indian Premier League (IPL), 2023. The left-handed batsman and right-arm leg spin bowler under hammer for a base price of Rs 20 lakh during the mini-auction for IPL held at Kochi on Friday.

A graduate from the Satish Chander Dhawan Government College, Ludhiana, Nehal has been a consistent performer. He represented Punjab for two years in the U-14 and U-16 categories, in addition to being a member of the U-19 team. He was selected in the Indian U-19 team for the Sri Lanka tour in 2019. He played for the Indian U-19 team in the triangular series at Trivandrum in 2019.

Last year, he represented Punjab in the Ranji Trophy competition. In September 2021, he blasted 171 runs to fashion Punjab win against RBI, Mumbai in a league match in the 26th All-India JP Atray Memorial ODI Cricket Tournament and put to shade the earlier records of 161 runs by Shikhar Dhawan and 168 runs by Lalit Yadav. He was named the highest ever scorer in the 26-year history of the tournament.

In April this year, Nehal set a new record, smashing 578 runs in a match against Bathinda during the inter-district U-23 cricket championship. He was felicitated by the Punjab Cricket Association with a cash prize of Rs 51,000 for this stupendous achievement.

An elated Kamal Wadhera, the father of the cricketer, told The Tribune that Nehal was invited a month ago by Mumbai Indians for trials and was again called a week ago to attend another session of selection trials. Rohit Sharma and Zaheer Khan were among the players who assessed Nehal and were convinced to include his name in the list of players to be picked up in the auction.

“We were waiting with our fingers crossed. Yesterday, our family members and dear ones were glued to the television sets while watching the auction process. When Nehal’s name went under the hammer, celebration broke out,” Kamal said.

Nehal is the third player from the district who will be seen in action in the mega cricket competition. Earlier, Karan Goel and Love Ablish have played in the IPL.